power supply and motherboard expired

[Eric S. Johansson]

Larry Grover wrote:
> squareyes wrote:
>> Installed a new power supply, only action was power supply noise, no
>> video action, so tried another video card, same, then noticed condensers
>> on board very swollen, possibly a power surge. Have all fingers crossed
>> that nothing else has expired, can't afford a new machine.
> 
> Ah, I see.  I asked because, at least in my limited experience, the 
> power supply is much more likely to fail than the motherboard.  In the 
> last year or so, I've had a rash of bad power supplies, but none of them 
> have caused damage to other components.  Swollen caps on the mother 
> board sound bad, though.

caps that can swell are typically electrolytic.  They are big, and easy 
to replace.  Although most capacitors when they fail tend to fail rather 
"spectacularly".  these failure events usually scares the cat, frightens 
the dog, and makes you fall out of your chair.

Swelling is more indicative of a long-term condition.  I would guess 
slightly high voltage (volt or more).  Personally, I would look 
seriously at replacing those capacitors before going further and you 
might find that it is cheaper to buy a new(ish) motherboard.

I would personally test all the components first in another system 
before replacing the motherboard.  You may discover the whole thing is a 
dead loss.

---eric